Just for fun
From Salsa to Pears to Pumpkin
Today I made salsa. It was so easy, it begs the question – why didn’t I do it before? Well, it won’t be the last time. It was yummy.
Two of the ingredients were from our very own garden – limes and chillies. We have great little chillies – I made this big container of salsa and only three tiny chillies, and it was nice and hot (actually, some was quite hot and some not at all – I should have ground them up a little more!).
So for our mid-afternoon meal (comida) I made some chicken quesadillas and we were all set.
And get this. I discovered more food growing in our garden. We have pears. Big ones.
Pears and soursop
I know, it’s been over 10 months and I’m still discovering more things in our garden? I guess I’m no William Carey.
This afternoon, though, we did something a bit more Canadian. We happened to discover some pumpkins (very expensive pumpkins) that had been brought in for Hallowe’en. Since we can’t buy canned pumpkin here, we bought some small pumpkins in order to make pumpkin pie.
My mouth is watering – we haven’t made pumpkin pie from scratch (ie not canned pumpkin) since early in our marriage when we had a garden. Boy, those were good pies.
Anyway, we cooked (just finishing up now) the pumpkin and washed the seeds to eat later.
This coming weekend we’re having some friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, so we thought it would be a good time to splurge. If they don’t like pumpkin pie, no problem – I know someone who can eat it for them…
See? Chillies, pumpkin, pears – lots to be thankful for!
Passion in the garden
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I’m still making discoveries in our garden. I’m still finding plants that I didn’t know were there (see some of the plants in our garden in this ever-expanding photo album). Fortunately, every once in a while our landlords come over and give me some tips.
This week I discovered a couple more things that were there all along. Better yet, Lisandro and Lupita (our landlords) gave me some tips on how to use some of these things. For example, this fruit to the right. Do you know what it is?
Well, I didn’t know until today. I wrote down the name of it on my hand, then promptly washed my hands and lost it (let that be a lesson to you all). But now I know – it’s maracuyá, otherwise known as passion fruit. It grows on a vine, and I can be excused for not noticing it because I can only reach the fruit from our roof.
So here’s what you do. First, you cut it open – it’s orange with lots of black seeds.
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Great. Now, scoop them out and stick it seeds and all into the blender. Whizzzz whizzzz whirrrr whirrrrr, add some water, whizzzz whizzzzz whirrrrr whirrrrrrrr…. then strain it into a pitcher. This time I added about 1.5L (about .4 US Gallons) of water, and a touch of honey, and there you are. Fresh passion fruit juice!
It’s an old vine, so apparently it’s not producing a lot of fruit. Still, we have enough for a few pitchers here.
Did you know that the word "passion" here refers to Christ’s passion? Learn more about how the passion flower got its name here.
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I also found out that we have a soursop tree. I knew we had the tree (I nursed it carefully during dry season), I just didn’t know what it was. It seems to be producing now.
Anyway, there’s lots of food in our garden – I just have to figure out ways to use it!
Lupita also gave me a recipe for salsa, so I’m ready to make some – in the blender, again. Yum – just what we need around here. Those are pretty hot little chilies – should make a good fresh salsa. Feel free to stop by and share!
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
Psa 146:5-7
Zoofari
We decided we needed to get out of the city yesterday, so we finally took Ma (Shari) to see Zoofari. What follows is a video, mostly from our trip yesterday with a few shots from May (when the kids and I went). I believe there are some shots from the May trip in our photo album – Lord willing I’ll get some pictures from our second visit in there someday.
Canada Quiz
I thought you might like to try the Canada quiz I put together for the party here yesterday. If you’re Canadian, you’ll find a lot of it pretty easy (but probably not all of it). Remember, it was geared toward Mexicans, but anyone might find it interesting.
It was kind of a weird weekend, actually. I spend so much time thinking about Mexico, it was strange to focus on Canada. Then all these people come to our house, and everything is so Canadian, when usually it looks much more Mexican around here!
Someone asked me at the party if I knew all the answers before I wrote the quiz. It’s hard to guess at how many I would have answered right – I’m guessing I would have gotten around 35 or so out of 40. 87.5%. So yes, I did learn a few things myself. 🙂
The quiz is in pdf format, and can be opened with programs like Foxit Reader. You’ll find the Canada Day Quiz here, and in a separate document the answers.
Tell your friends about it, and leave a comment to let me know how you did! Be sure to tell me if you’re Canadian or not – that does make a difference!
Our diplomas
This week we got our first diplomas. Actually, it was last week, but there was an error on them, so they were corrected and I got them Monday. Here’s Shari’s:
So… do you notice anything odd? No, I’m not talking about the spelling – that’s how Shari spells her name in Spanish. But there are some other interesting things about it.
For example, it congratulates Shari for completing 2 weeks of classes. Interesting, since she has actually completed 4 weeks at the school. But you’ll also notice that the diploma was presented on the 6th of July, 2007. Check the date of this post, and you’ll understand what’s so odd about that!
By that time, Shari will actually be done 6 weeks of classes. But for some reason, she didn’t get a diploma for completing a level, or for completing any other weeks, just for completing the next two weeks she’s about to do.
I got a 2 week diploma too. I got it in my 14th week.
Well, every time I go to pay for our classes, the whole procedure is different, and I can’t speak enough to really understand why things are done the way they are! So, I just smile and say thank you… unless of course there’s some major miscommunication (this last time they gave me receipts for double the money I gave them, in a different currency. But that time it was really my fault).
So anyway, Shari did a great job in her coming two weeks (and they complain I have problems with my verb tenses?)!
Seriously, though, school has been going well. I’ve had a lot of homework, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of discussion on a variety of topics this week. I’ve learned a lot about Mexico, and some of the verb tenses are even starting to stick in my head. Sometimes I feel like I’m where I should have been after 2 weeks instead of 14 weeks – maybe that’s why they gave me a two week diploma! 😉